McVitie’s is making its first move into savoury snacking with the launch of Penguin Bites crackers.
The new range comprises small penguin-shaped baked crackers in cheese, salt & vinegar, and lightly salted flavours. Available in sharing boxes (rsp: £2/125g), the HFSS-compliant snacks will be available in major grocery retailers from 8 June.
McVitie’s owner Pladis says the move was driven by “growing demand for more variety across family snacking occasions”. Penguin was the “natural starting point”, Pladis CMO Asli Özen Turhan told The Grocer, thanks to its “strong affinity with family and kids’ snacking”.
Consumer testing found 80% of parents and children rated the range as appealing or very appealing, with 71% saying it was a good fit for the brand.
“Penguin has strong brand equity across multiple generations and a playful, distinctive personality, which gives us permission to explore beyond chocolate biscuit bars, while still delivering the fun and enjoyment Penguin is known and loved for,” she added.
The launch will be supported by a back-to-school marketing campaign under the strapline ‘McVitie’s Penguin has gone crackers’. Penguin’s classic on-pack jokes will not feature at launch, Pladis told The Grocer, though it hinted they may be introduced as the “range evolves”.
“This is the first time McVitie’s Penguin has entered savoury snacking, but Pladis is obviously a major player in the category already. Our much-loved Jacob’s Mini Cheddars and Crinklys brands give us a strong understanding of what works in baked snacks, from flavour and texture to format and standout on shelf,” said Özen Turhan.
“We are very excited to move McVitie’s and Penguin – traditional sweet snacking icons – into savoury snacking for the very first time, and deliver fun and flavour with that undertone of permissibility for families.”
The launch marks a strategic shift for McVitie’s, which has experienced a sweet biscuit volume sales fall of 6.7 million kilos, despite a £5.8m revenue gain driven by higher prices, according to NIQ data [52 w/e 6 September 2025].
No comments yet